7 Steps To Productive Brainstorming

Wikipedia defines brainstorming as “a group or individual creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its member(s).”

So true. We all must have been part of so many brainstorming sessions till date. They are fun. You can come up with so many quirky, amazing ideas that would not have been possible had we all not come together. One idea inspires another and so on. But the key to brainstorming is to remain productive. Let’s look at some of the ways to achieve that.

Set A Criteria

Image Credit: Shutterstock

You cannot encourage someone to “go wild” and then tell them their idea will not work because it is an expensive proposition or it will take a long time to execute. Make the restrictions, limitations clear from the very beginning. This way employees will know what their ceiling is. Make it highly specific: “We need ten ideas within a $100 budget. All the ideas need to be room based; no outdoor activities.”

Know What To Ask

Image Credit: Shutterstock

If you have a set of specific questions, you can steer your brainstorming session the way you want. You can keep it on course. For example, an online shopping company looking to expand might ask questions such as, “Are there any other locations we can deliver to?” “Should we start delivering outside of India?” come up with about 15 or so questions which your participants can discuss. This will make your sessions intense and more productive.

Get Your Core Group Right

Image Credit: Shutterstock

In a session for improving internal communication you should only have your corporate communication team, not graphic designers and sales people. You should only invite people who have the expertise in that particular domain. There is no point in calling a sales guy and asking him to suggest ways to improve communication within team members. Don’t chose people based on their seniority rather chose them for their specialty.

Control The Discussion

Image Credit: Shutterstock

The key is not to get stuck on one point and let the group go on and on without any result in sight. Split them. Like they do in workshops. Make groups of 3-5 people, so that everyone is forced to contribute and assign them questions equally. This way everyone has a say. They can freely contribute their ideas to a small group rather than a big one and discuss at length.

Tell Them The Rules

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Let them know what the rules are. Tell them when one group is talking, discussing ideas, no other group will be allowed to interfere. If they have something to say tell them to make a note and share it later. Let them know that no interruptions will be tolerated.

Finishing Touches

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Don’t jump in and start asking the whole group for the winning ideas. That can be terribly demotivating for the group. Also, they might not know how to prioritize or have knowledge of having done something like this before. Instead have the subgroups make their own decisions and chose the most popular ideas. Once you have the final version, make an announcement about the following steps. Tell them how and when the ideas will be decided upon.

Decision Time

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Once you have arrived at the winning ideas, it is important to let people know the reasons behind it. It is also important to provide feedback to those who ideas were not selected. Mostly when such decisions are made, people have no idea as to why A’s idea was chosen over B’s. This is not only demoralizing but might prevent the person from taking an active part in future sessions. If you explain to them logically, they would be in a better position to come up with better ideas the next time.